Despite its vast agriculture potential,
Africa is increasingly dependent on food imports from the
rest of the world to satisfy its consumption needs. Food
output has not kept pace with population growth, and more
than 80 percent of production gains since 1980 have come
from the expansion of cropped areas rather than from greater
productivity of areas already cultivated. This paper looks
at the current requirements for seed trade in Africa, the

This discussion paper summarizes
observed and projected trends in extreme weather events,
present-day climate variability, and future climate change
and their impacts on China's different regions.
Findings are presented from China's national assessment
report on climate change (2007) and second national
assessment report on climate change (2011) as well as other
studies by Chinese and international experts. In addition to

This paper uses a stochastic dynamic
programming model to characterize the optimal
savings-consumption decisions and the role of livestock
inventories as a buffer stock in rural Ethiopia. The results
show that relatively land-rich households use accumulation
and liquidation of cattle and other animal inventories for
partial consumption smoothing, while low-income households
appear not to do so. The results highlight the need for

The wide media coverage of the series as
well as the interest in the blog show that the debate has
been gradually moving from ministerial corridors to the
public arena. This latest update foresees that the Tanzanian
economy will maintain its resilience by continuing to grow
at about 7 percent in the coming years. If some clouds are
looming on the external and fiscal horizons, the update
argues that the risks they pose should be manageable. The

Serbia's economy is out of balance
and performing below its potential. Since the post,
Yugoslavian transition, Serbia's economy has been
running on one engine, the non-tradable sector and expansion
of domestic demand. This was financed with ample capital
inflows, which were sharply reduced since 2008 as the global
economic crisis escalated. While this consumption-led growth
produced some improvements in living standards, it was not

This document summarizes the approach
that the global partnership for oceans (GPO) will take in
its work with countries to help improve the health of the
oceans and reduce coastal poverty. Restoring the health of
the world's ocean is a global challenge that can and
must be solved if one has to alleviate poverty, build
resilient communities, and foster strong coastal economies.
The natural systems underpinning the health of the ocean and

This issue of Handshake focuses on
natural resource PPPs that are making a difference. In
Cartagena, Colombia, a hybrid public-private agency is
profiled that has standardized water service to residents
while restoring the coast, and in the process, contributed
to political stabilization. Around Africas Lake Victoria, an
environmental management initiative with the potential to
reduce the pollution and resource footprint of industrial

Ukraine has untapped growth potential.
Ukraine has one of the most fertile agricultural lands in
the world, an attractive geographical location in Europe,
bordering the European Union, the largest market in the
world with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of more than $16
trillion, and a large domestic market of almost 50 million
consumers. This note argues that the stunted growth of the
private sector goes a long way in explaining Ukraine's

Ukraine is renowned as the breadbasket
of Europe thanks to its black soils ( Chernozem black
because of the high organic matter content) which offer
exceptional agronomic conditions. One-third of the worldwide
stock of the fertile black soils, which cover more than half
of Ukraine s arable land, a large variety of climatic zones,
and favourable temperature and moisture regimes, offers
attractive conditions for the production of a large range of

Women make essential contributions to agriculture in developing countries, where they constitute approximately 43 percent of the agricultural labor force. However, female farmers typically have lower output per unit of land and are much less likely to be active in commercial farming than their male counterparts. These gender differences in land productivity and participation between male and female farmers are due to gender differences in access to inputs, resources, and services. In this paper, we review the evidence on productivity differences and access to resources.

This sourcebook summarizes the outputs
and lessons of the Livestock in Africa: improving data for
better policies project. It aims to present the challenges
facing professionals collecting and analyzing livestock data
and statistics and possible solutions. While the Sourcebook
does not address all conceivable issues related to enhancing
livestock data and underlining statistical issues, it does
represent a unique document for a number of reasons. To